NFL kickoff: Assault on the record books, Week 16 buzz, headlines and picks

Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Sunday of NFL football:

The Big Buzz: History in the making

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (81) breaks away from Atlanta Falcons defensive back Dominique Franks (29) during the third quarter of an NFL football game at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

It's crunch time for those NFL teams still trying to earn a spot in the postseason, but there's another race that's worth watching over the final two weeks of the season: The race for the record books.

The first hallowed mark fell Saturday night as Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson claimed the NFL record for receiving yards in a season, catching 11 passes for 225 yards in the Lions' loss to the Falcons. The man they call "Megatron" bested the previous single-season standard of 1,848 yards set by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice in 1995, setting two other NFL receiving records in the process.

Johnson, now with 1,892 yards and one game left to play, has a legitimate shot at authoring the first 2,000-yard receiving season in the league's history.

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson also has history in the crosshairs, needing 294 yards in the next two weeks to eclipse Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. It's a tall order, but Peterson's torrid pace of late makes a 2,000-yard season a foregone conclusion and the all-time rushing record a distinct possibility.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) runs with the ball during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Peterson needs 294 yards in the Vikings' last two games to top Dickerson's record. He will have to get it against Houston, which has the No. 5 rushing defense in the league, and Green Bay, which is No. 14. But given the numbers Peterson has put up, asking him to average 147 yards in the next two games doesn't seem like much. He has topped that total in five of his last six starts.

Fellow record-seeker J.J. Watt will be one of the Texans defenders focused on stopping Peterson's march to history on Sunday in one of the week's top individual matchups, NFL columnist Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com writes:

The Texans have Shaun Cody back in the middle, which helps. But it's all about J.J. Watt, the one-man wrecking crew. Can the Vikings get him blocked?

Watt is one of two players - along with Aldon Smith of the 49ers - taking aim at Michael Strahan's single-season sack record. Each enters Sunday's action with 19.5 sacks and both could top Strahan's 2001 total of 22.5.

Watt gets a crack at Minnesota’s Christian Ponder in Week 16, before again taking on that same Colts team that found him unblockable. Smith and the 49ers visit Seattle next Sunday — Russell Wilson has been sacked 26 times in 14 games — then closes the season against Arizona’s abysmal offensive line.

At least one of the two pass rushing extraordinaires should be able to supplant Strahan atop this list.

• Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz paid a visit to the family of 6-year-old Jack Pinto, one of the victims of the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Cruz was Jack's favorite player, and the boy was buried in a No. 80 Giants jersey. (via NJ.com)

• Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who has been away from the team since being diagnosed with leukemia in September, has been cleared by doctors and is expected to return to work on Monday. (via IndyStar.com)

Who they're picking

• The panel of prognosticators at CBSSports.com is split down the middle on the Bengals-Steelers matchup and the Saints-Cowboys tilt, but five of the eight voters predict a Seahawks win over the 49ers on Sunday night.

• Peter King of SI.com likes the Cowboys to beat the Saints, the Vikings to upset the Texans, the Rams to edge the Buccaneers, and the Broncos to dominate the Browns.

• ESPN.com experts agree that the Packers will beat the Titans, the Patriots will take care of the Jaguars, the Texans will handle the Vikings, and the Broncos will get past the Browns.

• Of eight USA Today writers, only one picks the Ravens to beat the Giants. Likewise, the Vikings only receive a single supporter in their attempt to topple the Texans. In the Sunday Night Football battle, the panel votes 5-3 in favor of a 49ers victory over the Seahawks.

• Yahoo! Sports writers pick the Giants over the Ravens, the Redskins over the Eagles, the Dolphins over the Bills, and the Jets over the Chargers.

What they're saying

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez throws on the sideline in the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans on in this Dec. 17, 2012 file photo taken in Nashville, Tenn. Mark Sanchez knows he won't be the New York Jets' starting quarterback Sunday Dec. 23, 2012. Beyond that, the one-time face of the franchise won't say whether he thinks he'll be back with the team next season. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

"(Sanchez) had a stellar offensive line," Jenkins said on Showtime's "Inside The NFL." "He had running backs that kept the pressure off of him. He had the opportunity to grow and develop. What Sanchez has to take responsibility for is during the time that he could have gotten better he wanted to sit back. He wanted to pose for magazines, worry about his haircuts and do all of that stuff."

"You don't know until you know," Saints cornerback Jabari Greer said. "We won't realize what's going until there's a decision made. So we have to wait until then, stay patient and doing what we need to do, not only as professionals, but as a city, until he makes a decision."

"There is something about them, man. They're basically the same team as us and I just hate that fact," Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor said.

• Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who has incurred a slew of fines and a suspension in recent seasons due to helmet-to-helmet hits, said this week that he now aims for a player's knees when making a tackle. Harrison used the statement to once again take aim at the NFL's policies regarding illegal blows to the head: (via ProFootballTalk)

"They’re saying it’s a life-threatening injury to hit a guy in the head and he gets a concussion and so on and so forth, but I think a life-threatening injury is to go low on a guy and blow out his ACL or whatever, and he’s not able to come back the way he was before. Now he can’t make a living, he can’t feed his family, he can’t do what he does. That’s life-threatening to me.”

"I’m not a backup," Vick said in an interview with Tim McManus of Eagles 24/7. "Just being honest, just being candid. I’m a full-fledged starter. That’s what I’ve got in me, that’s what I provide, that’s what I offer. Whatever happens, wherever I end up, they’re going to get 110 percent. You’re going to get the same thing out of me that you got the last two, three years and that’s 110 percent effort and a guy that’s confident in his abilities to play and win."